


Eclipse

by TheOriginalRhi



Series: Pursued by Darkness [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), Young Obi-Wan Kenobi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24452743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalRhi/pseuds/TheOriginalRhi
Summary: Four-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi is living a fairly bleak life on the planet of Stewjon when he is discovered by someone with dark intentions who sets off a series of events which will follow Obi-Wan throughout his life.A prequel to my story The Path Back Home, and the first story in the series Pursued by Darkness, this is the story of how Obi-Wan was discovered by the Jedi.
Series: Pursued by Darkness [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1766173
Comments: 7
Kudos: 64





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> If you’ve followed me here from The Path Back Home, welcome and thanks for coming back! If you haven’t read it, it doesn’t matter, the two can quite easily be stand alone at this point in time, although I have plans for future stories in the series and this one will be the kick off point.
> 
> This story started off as a rewrite of a story I wrote 15 years ago as a teenager (One Day Remains, on FanFiction.Net under the same username - although the writing is terrible so no need rush off and read it haha). The intention was to update it slightly so it would fit in with the series I have planned, although it took on a life of its own as I was writing and ended up being quite different to the original with only a few elements which remained similar.
> 
> The story is finished, I’ll update every few days.
> 
> As always, feedback is appreciated!

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Drip._

_The sound of the water dripping from the roof and echoing through the rocky tunnel was the only thing he could hear. Even his bare feet made no noise as he softly walked over the uneven surface._

_Drip._

_Drip._

_Darkness loomed ahead at the end of the tunnel, roiling and churning in an oily miasma, very clearly signaling danger._

_Terror swirled around in the pit of his stomach, stirring up faint feelings of nausea, but his feet kept on moving independent of his will, bringing him closer and closer to the dark._

_Drip._

_Drip._

_The tunnel walls dropped away as it opened up into a small cavern. He could not see anything within the cavern, he could only feel the tendrils of slick darkness sliding around him. His hands clutched at his chest as he struggled to take a breath._

_Drip._

_Suddenly, the cavern was bathed in a red glow and he could make out a black cloaked figure in the centre. The figure was standing in a battle-ready lunge and holding a glowing red weapon in one hand, angling it so it crossed over in front of its body. The figure’s head was bowed but it slowly lifted its head. Its face was shrouded with a black hood, shadowing its facial features._

_The only thing he could see was a pair of terrifying glowing yellow eyes._

———

Four-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi awoke with a gasp, sitting bolt upright on his sleep mattress, the thin blanket pooling at his waist. It was not the first time that he’d had that dream, but it was no less disturbing. Those yellow eyes had haunted him for as long as he could remember.

“Owen.” He whispered, looking over at his older brother sleeping on the other mattress in the small room. The blanket that covered his brother’s curled up form shifted slightly but Owen did not wake up.

“Owen.” Obi-Wan whispered a bit louder.

A small hand pushed down the edge of the blanket, revealing a crop of rumpled hair and heavy-lidded eyes.

“What is it?” Owen said grumpily.

“I had that dream again.” Obi-Wan whispered, voice hitching slightly as his fingers clutched at his blanket.

“I don’t care.” He grumbled and turned over to face the wall.

Obi-Wan sighed and ran his hands through sleep-tousled ginger hair. He could tell from the dim grey light making its way through the uncovered window that it was nearly dawn so he slipped quietly out of bed, his bare feet making only the slightest of sounds as he moved through the house.

As he passed the kitchen, he reached out his hand and a piece of muja fruit flew across the small room and gently thudded into his palm, his fingers closing firmly around the fruit before lifting it to his mouth for a bite. He chewed on the juicy mouthful as he quietly slipped out the front door. He finished the fruit in four more large bites then tossed the pit in a nearby can before wiping his sticky hands on his pants and his mouth on his sleeve.

The time just before dawn was his favourite time of the day. Especially if he had dreamed about the yellow eyes. He found it peaceful to be out on his own, without being constantly watched and ordered about. He could also do things that he would never do around other people. Things like having a piece of fruit fly across the room directly into his hand. Those kinds of things usually got him into trouble, or caused people to be scared of him, so he only did those things when he was alone.

Obi-Wan noticed the sky lighten a little further, chasing away the dark of night just a little bit more. He turned towards the tall duracrete block fence and climbed easily up to the top of it, using various crumbling blocks as hand and foot holds. He stood and walked confidently along the top of the fence, climbed up a few branches of a tree, then leaped across to the flat top of the roof of the house, just in time to watch the sun peeking over the horizon.

He sat cross-legged on the roof and watched the sunrise, feeling the warm rays of the sun caress his small body, dancing and swirling around him as the sky changed colours. He closed his eyes and let the calm wash over him, helping to chase away the vivid memory of the yellow eyes from his dream.

“Obiii-Wan!”

The familiar high-pitched tone of his mother knocked the young boy straight back into reality. When he opened his eyes, the sky had lost its brilliant colour, he no longer felt the soothing warm tendrils of sunlight, nor did he feel the calm that had so freely washed over him just moments ago. Everything felt dull, grey and cold after just being bathed in so much warmth, colour and brightness.

Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet and leaped off the roof, knowing without thinking that he would be able to catch himself on a nearby tree branch, swing himself forwards to grip on the top of the tall duracrete block wall before sliding to the ground on a pole mounted to the wall that had once formed the support for an outdoor shelter, which had long since fallen down. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took off back towards the house.

He pushed his way through the front door, and immediately ducked on pure instinct as a large hand swiped past just over his head. His hands tightened into fists as he whipped around to face the threat - his father, Kovin.

“Just testing ya.” Kovin laughed maliciously.

“Freak.” Owen spat from across the room where he was sitting eating his morning meal at the table.

Obi-Wan stuck out his tongue at his brother. He and his brother looked very similar - they both had blue-green eyes and sandy hair with copper tones. They were also a similar height and build as there was barely a year between them in age. But personality wise, they couldn’t be more different. Owen took after their father, arrogant and irritable with a definite mean streak, whereas Obi-Wan didn’t seem to resemble either parent in personality. He was for the most part a serious and slightly withdrawn boy, although he had a cheeky side that came out around those he trusted - which was pretty much no one. The other big difference was the fact that Owen was wanted by their parents...and he was not. The mistake that should never have happened, as he had been told multiple times.

“Ma! He stuck his tongue out at me!” Owen complained loudly

Their mother, Carohi, was sitting next to Owen with her usual morning mug of strong caff. She sighed and looked at Obi-Wan disapprovingly - although avoided direct eye contact as she typically did. “Leave your brother alone.” She grumbled, looking deep into the dark brown liquid.

“Come on, boy.” Kovin said, roughly grabbing Obi-Wan by the shoulder and leading him towards the door. “You’ve got work today.”

———

Kovin ran a decent sized black-market operation from a warehouse in a run down, nearly deserted industrial area, where he stocked everything from illegal weapons through to various types of spice.

Obi-Wan stood behind Kovin as he disarmed the security system and unlocked three locks of different variety - biometric palm print, key card and eight-digit numerical code - then trailed after him into the small warehouse. Kovin promptly disappeared into his office and Obi-Wan grabbed a broom which was leaning against the wall and wandered down the first of the five aisles. He began sweeping up the dust and grit into a neat little pile as he went, spending as little time in the second half of the aisle as possible. He didn’t know what they were for, but there was always something which unnerved him about that specific collection of bottles, syringes and weapons.

It wasn’t long before the first customer showed up and although Obi-Wan couldn’t see who it was, he could hear the rough, heavily accented voice. He tip toed to the end of the aisle and peeked around the corner. He could just see into the office to where Kovin had a receiving area for customers - although a built in desk and a barricade with durasteel bars separated them from the rest of the office and the warehouse. He could see his father’s left hand resting on the blaster attached to a hip holster and an irate looking customer standing on the other side of the bars.

“400 credits!” The customer growled. “I could get it for 300 on Corellia!”

“Then go get it from Corellia.” Kovin said, acting disinterested. “So do you want it or not?”

The customer huffed and there was a thud as he slammed the credits down on the desk, roughly grabbed the small package from Kovin’s hand and left.

Shortly after, Obi-Wan heard the door open again and this time, he heard a very welcome voice.

“Heya Bi-bi!”

Obi-Wan looked up from his sweeping to see his favourite person ever appear at the end of the aisle. The purple-haired teenage girl walked up to Obi-Wan with a big grin on her face and tousled his hair affectionately.

“Hey Laini.” Obi-Wan replied, following the girl into Kovin’s office.

Laini was Obi-Wan’s working partner. Obi-Wan typically acted as the runner and handled the switch while Laini handled everything else. They were an effective pair, not only because they were both good at what they did, but their young ages and the fact that easily passed as siblings meant they were often overlooked and easily escaped suspicion by law enforcement. It didn’t often carry a large penalty, as law enforcement on Stewjon could often be bribed to turn a blind eye, but Kovin hated to part with excessive money unnecessarily - he already paid the law enforcement a monthly stipend to turn a blind eye to his operation. However, both Obi-Wan and Laini had good instincts and were smart enough to avoid trouble. When he wasn’t running illicit substances, Kovin kept Obi-Wan busy doing everything from sweeping the floors to keeping the stock neatly stacked on the shelves.

“Bout time you showed up.” Kovin grumbled to Laini.

“Keep your pants on, man.” Laini said. “I was being followed. I figured you didn’t want me leading them here so I took the long way.”

Obi-Wan knew from experience that Laini’s ‘long way’ involved generous amounts of climbing, rooftop jumping and acrobatics.

Kovin grunted in reply and shoved a handful of small packets in Laini’s direction. She took them from his hand with a flourish and tucked them into various concealed pockets in her outfit.

“Come on Obes, let’s get going.” Laini said, taking Obi-Wan’s hand as they headed out.

They walked hand in hand down the street to their target site for that day. Laini stood with her back against a duracrete block wall that made up part of a run down shopping strip, keeping a sharp eye out for customers and potential trouble. Obi-Wan pretended to play, tossing stones in a small can that had been left on the side of the street.

Neither of them particularly liked this job where they were constantly taking advantage of others. Their regular customers were all thoroughly hooked on the very addictive substance and they both always felt a little guilty for being the ones to encourage the addiction. But neither of them really had an option. Obi-Wan was forced into this role by his father, and Laini was orphaned a couple of years prior and needed work to be able to survive, as Stewjon did not have a child welfare system.

It wasn’t long before Laini spotted a regular customer staggering along across the other side of the road. She could almost see his red-rimmed hazy eyes and smell his unwashed body from across the road. She nudged Obi-Wan and when he stood, she surreptitiously pressed the small packet into his hand. Obi-Wan ran across the street, approaching the customer and performing the switch quickly. He then waited for a speeder to pass on the street and jogged back towards Laini, palming the credits over to her under the guise of a hug.

After a long morning, they had sold the majority of the little packets and Laini had provided a small snack for herself and Obi-Wan. She viewed the young boy as a little brother and tried to provide for him as she knew his family did not.

Obi-Wan grinned and expressed his thanks around a big mouthful of food.

They ate the small amount of food in silence and as Obi-Wan polished off his last mouthful, he felt an uncontrollable urge to look up. He quickly lifted his head and looked around, carefully studying his surroundings, as the urge to look up quickly shifted to an overwhelming feeling telling him that someone was watching him. He rose to his feet, his body tense and on high alert. He could feel Laini move in next to him, fully alert and attuned to him.

“What is it?” Laini asked softly, carefully surveying the area along with Obi-Wan.

“I don’t know.” Obi-Wan replied. He couldn’t see anything around them, but in his mind, the glowing yellow eyes from his dream that morning hit him full force again before suddenly disappearing altogether.

Obi-Wan slowly shook his head. “It’s gone.”

Laini looked at Obi-Wan curiously and was going to ask him more, but she spotted another customer and pushed the question aside. The work had to come first.


	2. Two

“Time for knock off, squirt.” Laini said later in the afternoon, running her hand through her short purple hair. “Kovin ain’t gonna be pleased though, we still have two left.”

“Kriff him.” Obi-Wan shot back with a lopsided grin, his seldom demonstrated cheeky side easily coming out around the person he trusted the most.

Laini feigned shock. “You’re far too young to know such language!” She lamented dramatically.

Obi-Wan giggled, showing his true age for a brief moment in time. “Race you back!” He challenged cheerfully, quickly taking off running before Laini could start.

“Cheater!” Laini shot back at him, laughing as her longer legs enabled her to easily catch up with him. This was an activity they both enjoyed very much. Laini had always been a little bit of a thrill seeker, and when she had discovered that Obi-Wan had a talent for it too, she started to make a bit of a game of it. She knew that the boy could use a bit of fun in his life.

Obi-Wan just grinned as he dived through a small hole under a wall. Laini was too big to follow and was forced to climb over the wall, giving Obi-Wan a slight lead. Ahead was the side of a building with a drainage pipe attached to it. Obi-Wan scaled the side of the building, using the pipe to assist him, while Laini was able to jump high enough to reach a windowsill, which she used to haul herself up high enough to reach the ledge of the roof. They both touched down on the flat roof simultaneously and sprinted across it before leaping across the small gap to the next roof.

They dodged around and clambered over various utility and ventilation protuberances on the roof, keeping neck and neck with each other. Laini no longer went easy on Obi-Wan like she did when they started this months ago, he was now keeping up with her in his own right. The end of the roof opened up into a fully fenced yard, filled with scrap droid parts. Obi-Wan carefully stepped out on the narrow bar at the top of the fence, walking along it as quickly as he could. He could see Laini in his peripheral vision doing the same along the opposite side of the yard.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!” A startled voice shouted from within the yard.

Obi-Wan wobbled slightly as he turned to look at the man who shouted at him, but he did not lose his balance. He finished the last of the length of fence quickly and jumped off the end, landing in a crouched position. Laini had done the same a few metres away from him but had somersaulted to soften her landing as she dropped down. They made eye contact with a grin and both took off simultaneously, sprinting across the field ahead of them, towards the tree line in the distance. It was a fairly isolated area and there were very few people to get in the way as they ran across the field. It was here where Laini had the advantage and her longer legs carried her a good distance ahead of Obi-Wan, who was running as fast as his shorter four-year-old legs would let him.

Just before Laini reached the tree line, she came to a sudden stop. At the same time, Obi-Wan was overwhelmed with a feeling of darkness and dread that swirled around him, tingling down his spine and making him shiver, despite being warm and flushed from the running. He stumbled, distracted by the overwhelming sensation, but after a couple of quick steps, he regained his balance, narrowly avoiding a fall. A few more strides later, Obi-Wan came to an abrupt stop next to Laini. Standing in front of them was a black cloaked figure. He could feel the hazy darkness churning around the person as thin tendrils of the darkness reached out for him. He didn’t know who they were or what they wanted, but they felt so completely  wrong . Obi-Wan’s hands curled into fists of their own accord but he didn’t know whether to fight or run.

The figure reached up with pale hands and slid the hood back. It was a woman. Not young, but not old either. She had long, silver hair and sharp facial features. She had a small, but utterly terrifying smile on her face. And her eyes were glowing yellow.

“Yellow eyes.” Obi-Wan whispered.

The woman looked Obi-Wan over with sickeningly curious eyes. “You are pursued by Darkness.”

Obi-Wan felt an all consuming desire to run away, but he could not make his feet move as they felt frozen in place.

The Dark woman reached out a thin hand and brushed her icy cold fingers against Obi-Wan’s forehead. Suddenly the grassy field and trees fell away and were replaced by lava, fire and sparks. He was standing on a small platform which was floating on top of a lava flow and could feel the intense heat rising to burn at his cheeks and smell the noxious gases, which made his eyes water and him feel faint.

The vision ended as abruptly as it began and Obi-Wan, now slightly light headed, opened his eyes to find himself looking directly into the Dark woman’s yellow eyes.

The woman was smiling again, the little terrifying smile which caused her yellow eyes to glow more intensely. “Yes.” She drew out the word. “The Darkness calls to you. It is attracted to you. I sense a lot of darkness in your future.”

Obi-Wan felt such an utter sense of wrongness with the woman’s words but he did not know why. All he knew is that he suddenly felt extremely scared and angry. His hands were held so tightly into fists that he could feel his fingernails cutting into his palms.

Small rocks and sticks began to rise up off the ground and move about seemingly of their own accord. The Dark woman’s smile grew wider as she looked around at the debris that was now swirling around them. The change in air current made the Dark woman’s cloak lift and flutter about. Laini gave Obi-Wan a quick surprised glance, laced with copious amounts of fear. She knew that he was not a typical four-year-old boy, but she had never seen him do anything like this before.

“Gooood.” The Dark woman said, drawing out the word. “You are powerful. You will be a good ally.” She extended out her hand towards Obi-Wan again, this time it was palm up. An invitation. “Join me.” She said.

Obi-Wan stepped back, shaking his head as he shied away from the proffered hand. “No.” He said, voice shaking.

The Dark woman narrowed her yellow eyes and frowned at Obi-Wan. “Join me.” She said more firmly. “It is your destiny.”

“No!” Obi-Wan said, his voice more firm this time.

The woman began chanting in a language that Obi-Wan didn’t recognise and he could almost see the dark miasma around her extending towards him, the greedy tendrils of darkness swirling, twisting and fighting their way towards him.

“Nooo!” Obi-Wan was able to shout this time, throwing his head back and tensing his body, flexing his arms up and curling his hands into fists in a fight ready stance. When he brought his head back, he could see the Dark woman floating in the air along with the debris, her yellow eyes wide with surprise.

Obi-Wan stomped his foot and threw his arms out in front of him. The Dark woman flew many metres away from him, collapsing on the ground between two trees. The debris that had been floating around him also flew away, clearing a large circle around where he stood in the epicentre.

Obi-Wan looked at his hands in shock, unable to believe what he just did. He startled as a hand suddenly grabbed one of his own.

“Come on!” Laini urged, dragging Obi-Wan away. They ran until they could run no more, weaving through the streets, finally stopping in an alleyway behind an abandoned factory where they bent over, hands propped on knees, trying to regain breath lost from the terrifying experience coupled with their frantic run.

“Karking crispy spook on a kriffing stick!” Laini swore, running her hands nervously through her spiky purple hair as she paced back and forth in the narrow alleyway. Obi-Wan had never seen the teenage girl look so undone, she was always so self assured and confident, even in the most difficult situations. “What in the hells was that!”

“I don’t know!” Obi-Wan said, sinking down against the wall and curling into a ball. He wanted to cry but he hadn’t done so for so long for fear of getting the tears beaten out of him, he didn’t even know if he could.

Laini sighed and sank down next to Obi-Wan, reaching her arm around his shoulders and hugging him close to her. Obi-Wan uncurled and snuggled into her side, relishing a rare moment of contact and comfort.

“It’s ok Bi-bi.” Laini said, using one of her favourite nicknames for the young boy. “We will figure it out. Come on now, we need to get back before Kovin pops an aneurysm.”

———

That night, Obi-Wan was barely able to get any sleep, every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the Dark woman and her yellow eyes. He tossed and turned and eventually got up long before dawn, making his way to the roof of the house as he usually did, although this time he dragged his thin sleeping blanket with him and wrapped it around himself to ward off the cold.

He thought about what had happened the previous day. He hadn’t lied to Laini when he said he didn’t know what had happened. He truely had no idea that he could do those things and it utterly scared him. He didn’t know what the Dark woman had meant by the things she had said yesterday either and something told him that he didn’t  want to know. Pursued by Darkness? He didn’t know what pursued even meant but it didn’t sound good.

Noticing a couple of stones on the roof, Obi-Wan reached out his hand and called them to him, closing his hand around the stones as they gently thudded into his palm. That was easy, he had been doing that since before he could even remember. He turned his hand over and opened his fingers, the two small stones sitting in the centre of his palm. He concentrated on the stones, trying to imagine them floating above his hand, just like he had done unintentionally the previous day. The stones stubbornly remained still.

Obi-Wan decided that it was a good thing that he was also stubborn and he continued to try and get the stones to move. He figured that he had already done it once so he was definitely capable of it, it was just a matter of figuring it out.

It wasn’t until the sun started peeking above the horizon and Obi-Wan felt the familiar warmth come upon him that he started to see the stones twitch and wiggle in his hand. The light of the new day danced around him and bathed him in a warm glow. Obi-Wan felt the warmth running through his body, leaving a pleasant tingling in its wake. The tingling centralised in the centre of his body. It seemed to be waiting for him. Obi-Wan told it what he wanted to do. The warmth immediately flowed outwardly again, straight towards the stones, floating them above his palm.

Obi-Wan grinned as he watched the stones floating in mid air above his hand, lifting, lowering and rotating just as he asked them to. He moved his hand away and the stones remained where they were, slowly rotating around each other. It was a wonderful thing for him to feel like he had control over something, to be able to do something that no one else he knew could do.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan felt a cold shiver tingle up his spine, and the same feeling from the previous day where he had felt like he was being watched came over him again. The stones dropped to the rooftop with a plinking sound as his concentration was broken. He stood and looked around, but just like the previous day, he could not see anything.

The feeling was enough to unnerve him and drive him back inside to a place he usually avoided at all costs.


	3. Three

Master Yoda walked down the ramp of the space transport, his gimer stick making a metallic sound each time it struck the durasteel. He was accompanied by Knight Remy Turro, who walked alongside him, gracefully reducing his long strides to match the ancient Master’s much shorter ones.

An air of grief surrounded the two Jedi. They had been called to Stewjon to escort the body of Master Sarini Kita back to Coruscant. Master Kita had been one of Yoda’s Padawans, as well as Remy’s Master. Once Remy had been knighted a few years prior, she had retired back to her home world of Stewjon where she had recently passed away from natural causes. They would be returning her to the Temple for a Jedi funeral as per her final wishes.

At the bottom of the ramp, an older man stood waiting - Werran Kita, the elder brother of Master Kita. The two Jedi bowed deeply to him and he returned a small bow stiffly, his body protesting the unaccustomed movement.

“Sorry for your loss, I am.” Yoda spoke.

“And I yours.” Werran replied, turning and indicating for the two Jedi to follow him to where he had a speeder waiting.

Remy offered to drive the speeder, which Werran looked slightly relieved about. He hadn’t disclosed to the Jedi that he very rarely went anywhere in it anymore as he no longer enjoyed driving, particularly in the busier traffic in the main centre and near the spaceport.

They stopped first at the medical centre where Master Sarini’s body had been placed in a stasis tank to preserve her for the trip back to Coruscant. Remy organised for the tank to be loaded onto their transport and the three of them continued on to Werran’s house, where he had offered for them to stay until they left first thing the next morning.

———

Obi-Wan was stacking cases of thermal detonators on the shelf when he felt an ice cold tendril of darkness snaking around him. He had a really bad feeling about this. He carefully put down the box and leaped to his feet, silently making his way to the end of the aisle where he peered around the corner to see Kovin talking to the Dark woman.

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened in terror. His instincts screamed at him to run, but there was only one door in the building and it was currently blocked by the shadowy figure of the Dark woman. His next thought was to hide, but before he could move, the Dark woman turned around, fixing her piercing yellow eyes directly on him.

“Boy, come here.” Kovin called.

Obi-Wan reluctantly obeyed, knowing that there was really no other option. He was hoping that he might be able to run once he was closer to the door.

He could feel the Dark woman’s eyes on him and the tendrils of darkness reaching hungrily for him as he tentatively made his way across the room.

“This is Shayda.” Kovin said. “You will be going with her now.”

Obi-Wan backed away, eyes wide and shaking his head. “No. Please, no.” He begged.

Kovin laughed, his eyes cold. “Too late. Shayda has already paid a substantial sum for you. More than I figured you were actually worth but hey, it’s her credits.”

Shayda didn’t seem bothered by Kovin’s evaluation of her supposed overpayment. Her eyes remained firmly fixed on Obi-Wan, that same little terrifying smile on her face. She extended her arm out, palm up, in the same manner as she had done the previous day.

Obi-Wan sprinted for the door, but didn’t make it far before he felt an invisible icy hand reach around his ankle and trip him, causing him to fall flat to the floor. He struggled to get up, but he was being held down by some invisible force. He felt a sharp pain in the large muscle of his rear end and he suddenly lost all ability to move.

“The muscle relaxant should wear off in a couple of hours.” Obi-Wan heard Kovin say in the distance.

He was roughly turned over and picked up, Shayda’s arms carrying him under his knees and across his back. Unable to even lift his head, it lolled backwards and all he could do was watch everything upside down as he was carried out of the building.

Obi-Wan caught sight of Laini at the end of the road as he was being loaded into the back seat of the waiting speeder. He heard the teenager shouting his name with a panicked tone to her voice. Obi-Wan tried to fight against the muscle relaxant to lift his head and see his friend but the drug was too strong. A sense of dread and utter helplessness came over him - he was completely unable to move and being taken somewhere unknown by a woman who terrified him. A single tear slipped from his eye as the speeder took off, leaving behind the only life he had ever known.

From his position lying uncomfortably on the back seat, Obi-Wan was only able to see the sky and the occasional glimpse of the side of a building and he lost track of their route quickly. He and Laini often roamed the streets locally so he was very familiar with the area in walking distance, but he didn’t often go further afield in a speeder so he had no idea where he was. The speeder eventually stopped and Obi-Wan saw a silver haired head leaning over him before being gathered up in Shayda’s arms again. Without a word, she carried him into an abandoned storage facility and dumped him on a dirty mattress on the floor before leaving, locking the door behind her.

In the pitch dark room, unable to move, Obi-Wan did something he was determined to never do. He cried.

———

Laini chased after the speeder but it wasn’t long before it had sped off out of sight and she quickly turned and clambered up on the nearest roof. She caught a glimpse of the speeder a couple of streets over and chased after it, leaping across the roofs, swinging through trees and running along fences. She lost sight of the speeder a few more times, but managed to spot it again each time, although it was getting further and further away from her and she eventually lost it altogether.

“Kark it all to Hoth and back!” Laini muttered to herself as she leaped from a balcony back down to the street. She wasn’t giving up though. Determined to find Obi-Wan, she continued heading in the direction that she last saw the speeder.

———

Having unknowingly cried himself to sleep, Obi-Wan opened his eyes with a fright. It was still pitch black so he had no idea how long he had been asleep for and he wasn’t quite sure yet what had woken him - until an icy hand caressed the side of his face. He scrambled back, away from the hand, until his back was pressed into the cold durasteel corner of the room. He belatedly realised that he was able to move again and felt a quick rush of relief. It was not nice to be trapped in an unresponsive body.

“My child of Darkness awakens.” The icy voice spoke, cutting through the darkness.

“What do you want from me?” Obi-Wan demanded in the strongest voice he could muster.

“It’s not what I want from you.” Shayda said. She leaned forwards so closely that Obi-Wan could feel her hair brush against his cheek, her lips right by his ear. “It’s what the Darkness wants. It’s your destiny.” She drew out the words in a whisper.

Suddenly something solid was pressed against Obi-Wan’s lips and he felt a small amount of bitter liquid dribble into his mouth. While he spluttered, preoccupied with trying to spit the liquid out, he felt something slice across his palm. He instantly felt warm, wet blood trickle across his hand.

He cried out in pain and pulled his hand into his chest, covering it with his uninjured one.

Shayda laughed, the harsh sound echoing off the durasteel walls. “Sweet dreams, child of Darkness.”

Obi-Wan felt his body go limp again and his eyes grew heavy. Cold hands guided him down to the mattress as he lost the fight to stay awake and everything went dark.

_ Everything was red and hazy. _

_ Blue, green and red lights flashed through the haze, dancing and clashing. _

_ The Darkness was there. _

_ He felt fear. _

_ He felt anger. _

_ He felt death. _

_ He felt despair. _

_ He saw a boy grow into a man. _

_ The Darkness was there. _

_ He felt pain. _

_ He felt death. _

_ He felt despair. _

_ Hundreds of lights were extinguished. _

_ The Darkness was there. _

_ More pain. _

_More death._

_ More despair. _

_ Blue shifted to red. _

_ The Darkness was there. _

_ A fight over fire. _

_ Anger. _

_ Rage. _

_ Pain. _

_ Death. _

_ Despair. _

_ Pursued by Darkness. _

_ Surrounded by Darkness. _

_ Drip. _

_ Drip. _

_Drip._

_ The sound of the water dripping from the roof and echoing through the rocky tunnel was the only sound he could hear. Even his bare feet made no noise as he softly walked over the uneven surface. _

_ Drip. _

_ Drip. _

_ Darkness loomed ahead at the end of the tunnel, roiling and churning in an oily miasma, very clearly signalling danger. _

_ Terror swirled around in the pit of his stomach, stirring up faint feelings of nausea, but his feet kept on moving independent of his will, bringing him closer and closer to the dark. _

_ Drip. _

_ Drip. _

_ The tunnel walls dropped away as it opened up into a small cavern. He could not see anything within the cavern, he could only feel the tendrils of slick darkness sliding around him. His hands clutched at his chest as he struggled to take a breath. _

_ Drip. _

_ Suddenly, the cavern was bathed in a red glow and he could make out a black cloaked figure in the centre. It was standing in a battle-ready lunge and holding a glowing red weapon in one hand, angling it so it crossed over in front of its body. The figure’s head was bowed but it slowly lifted its head. Its face was shrouded with a black hood, shadowing its facial features. _

_ The only thing he could see was a pair of terrifying glowing yellow eyes. _

_ The figure raised a hand and pushed its hood back. _

_ It was his own face looking back at him. _

Obi-Wan awoke with a start, gasping in a breath. He scrambled up into a sitting position. He could hear soft chanting from across the room, which stopped abruptly.

“What did you see.”

“Death. Pain. Darkness.” Obi-Wan whispered, hugging his knees into his chest.

Shayda laughed, a delighted sound that seemed completely out of place. “Yes! Pain and death. Death and pain.” She said in a sing-song voice. “Darkness surrounds you. It seeks you. It will be drawn to you and you will be drawn to it. Darkness is your destiny. There is no need to be afraid of it. All you need to do is reach out and it will answer you.”


	4. Four

After late meal, Remy excused himself for a walk. The dark-haired Knight always made a point to explore new places on foot to get a good knowledge of his surroundings, but also because he always liked to be doing something. Sitting around doing sedentary activities was definitely not one of his strengths. They were leaving again first thing the next morning and would be stuck on the space transport for hours again, so he wanted to get out and stretch his legs while he had a chance.

Werran lived on the outskirts of a residential area, close to an industrial area which looked to be mostly abandoned. Stewjon had previously been a thriving world and the supplier of many commonly used products across the galaxy, but about ten years prior, the world had undergone an economic downturn as it became cheaper to manufacture products on outer rim planets, often using a workforce of dubious legality. Factories which previously churned out products that were shipped across the galaxy had to close down, leaving much of the population of Stewjon in hardship, or turning to less legal forms of income.

Remy walked through the abandoned area, passing multitudes of dilapidated buildings, many of which were now beginning to crumble and be taken over by determined weeds and trees after a decade of no maintenance. It was a very quiet place, he could hear nothing but the sound of the wind and the soft tread of his feet on the gravel and grit covering the deteriorating street.

He turned into an alleyway between two buildings and saw a flash of movement above his head. Curious, he looked up, but didn’t see anything further. He figured it was just a bird and carried on.

The second time he saw movement, he also heard the unmistakeable scuff of a foot and felt the Force nudging him to check it out. He turned and easily scaled the wall, pulling himself up and over the ledge onto the flat roof. He saw a flash of movement up ahead, disappearing behind a extractor fan housing.

Remy jogged silently across the roof, rounding the small structure from the opposite side. Just as he approached the corner, a body slammed into him in a clear attempt to knock him over. Remy, however, had a particular skill in hand to hand combat, as well as he was tall and solid muscle due to a Jedi’s standard training regime. There was no way his small assailant would get the upper hand on him. In two quick and effortless moves, he had his assailant pinned to the ground, one hand around their neck. He was surprised to see it was a young girl and quickly released the pressure across her neck, but didn’t fully release her yet.

“What was that for?” He asked curiously.

“I don’t like people following me.” The purple-haired girl shot back, shooting him a glare which was a perfect example of a sullen teenager.

“I wasn’t following you.” Remy said then sighed. “Look, I really don’t like to have conversations like this. If I let you up, will you try and attack me again? I really don’t want to have to hurt you.”

The sullen glare continued for another second before vanishing, being replaced with a slightly more contrite expression. “No.”

Remy released the hold he had on the girl and stood gracefully as she scrambled to her feet, tension still present in every muscle, her fingers twitching like they wanted to clench into fists of their own accord.

Remy did his best to project a calm, non-threatening presence, letting his arms rest naturally at his sides, his hands relaxed. “My name is Remy, what’s yours?”

The purple-haired girl shifted nervously. “Laini.”

“Nice to meet you, Laini.” Remy said. “Why did you think I was following you?”

“Because this is not a place people come for no reason. There is nothing here.”

“So then what are you doing here?” Remy asked.

Laini hesitated for a second to study him with cautious eyes. “I am searching for something that was taken.”

“I am good at finding things. Perhaps I could help?” Remy replied. It was the truth. He had particular talents for location and extraction and despite his young age and relatively recent Knighting, he was becoming well known for his skill and was being asked more and more by the Council to take on missions that required expertise in these two elements.

Laini hesitated again, clearly evaluating her options. Remy also took that moment to surreptitiously study the girl in front of him without making her feel like she was being stared at. At a guess, he would have estimated her to be in her late teenage years, around five to ten years younger than himself. He could tell that she was Force-sensitive but she seemed to have developed strong natural shielding so he couldn’t tell how much. Possibly enough to have been met Jedi acceptance thresholds has she been found when she was young enough. She was short and had an athletic build, although was too thin, likely from a lack of nutrition given the hardship that many people on this planet lived in.

Laini eventually nodded. “Yes. Help would be good.”

“So what are we looking for? Something big, small?”

Laini held her hand out just higher than her waist showing an approximation of size. “He is this big.” She said.

“We are looking for a child?” Remy asked with a raised eyebrow. He really did not like his job when it involved children. Not because he didn’t want to rescue them, but because of the circumstances that often surrounded their kidnapping. There were some truely evil people in this galaxy.

Laini nodded. “His name is Obi-Wan. He is four years old.”

“What makes you think he is here?”

“I followed the Dark woman’s speeder. I lost sight of it back that way and the last I saw, it was headed in this direction. There are many abandoned buildings here, I figured that she is probably hiding in one of them.”

“Did this Dark woman kidnap him?”

Laini shook her head. “His  _ father _ sold him.” She spat out the word ‘father’. “Please help me find him. He is like a brother to me, and the only family I have.”

Remy nodded. “Let’s go then.”

———

Obi-Wan awoke again and groaned. Shayda had forced him to swallow that bitter liquid again and he had once again dreamed those horrible Dark dreams which scared him far beyond anything he had ever experienced before.

He couldn’t see anything in the pitch black room, but he somehow knew that he was alone. He groggily pushed himself into a sitting position and leaning heavily on the wall, he stood up and slowly made his way to where he remembered the door being. He ran his hands over the wall and found the handle of the door. He tried to open it, but it was locked and wouldn’t budge.

He started banging on the durasteel walls as hard as he could and shouting repeatedly for help, hoping that someone might be able to hear him.

———

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and Remy and Laini still had no leads, despite having searched a number of abandoned buildings.

Laini suddenly stopped and sunk down to sit on a low wall. She buried her head in her hands and let out a faint sob.

Remy patiently sat down beside her and placed his hand on her back, infusing a little warmth and comfort through the Force towards the young girl.

It seemed to help, as Laini lifted her head, sniffling slightly as she wiped her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where that came from.” Laini apologised. “I don’t cry.”

“Not to worry.” Remy said casually. “We will keep searching.”

Laini sniffled once more then nodded. “Yes. Let’s go.”

They stood together, but before they could step away, Remy froze, the Force suddenly shouting an urgent warning. He held up a hand, signalling for Laini to hold still, and reached for his lightsaber with his other hand.

He felt the unmistakable oily miasma of Darkness approaching, and a figure cloaked in black stepped out into the street.

“You are too late, Jedi.” The woman spat, her voice sending an icy chill down Remy’s spine. “He belongs to the Darkness now.”

“Help! Help me!” Came a cry from in the distance, accompanied by the sound of banging against something metallic.

Remy glanced at Laini, who nodded once back at him, each knowing what they had to do.

“You will not have him!” The Dark woman screeched, drawing her lightsaber and igniting it, casting a red glow over her face.

Remy ignited his own saber and immediately leapt towards the Dark woman to distract her from Laini’s task, his blue weapon clashing forcefully with her red one. He could see the Dark woman’s yellow eyes glaring at him behind the glow of red, filled with hatred and rage.

Blue and red blades clashed again and again, each fighter spending the first few blows testing out the strength and ability of the other. Remy stepped back, letting the Dark woman advance on him, drawing her away from where the child was being kept so that Laini might have a better chance to rescue the boy.

The Dark woman was a formidable fighter, but Remy spent a good portion of each day training in various forms of combat. He suddenly leaped over her head in an extravagant Ataru manoeuvre, striking down solidly as he did so. He twisted before he landed, turned to face his foe. He followed it up with a rapid barrage of strikes, driving her further away from Laini and the boy she was hopefully currently rescuing.

The Dark woman suddenly kicked out, supplementing it with a pulse of a Force push, sending Remy flying backwards. He somersaulted in mid air, dispersing the energy of the push, and landed on his feet, skidding slightly backwards as the last of the energy dissipated. But the move had lost him a good chunk of ground and he was close - too close for his liking - to where Laini had headed to rescue the boy.

The Dark woman screeched as she ran at him, lunging the last metre with her saber held high over her head for a direct strike. She came down hard but missed as Remy dropped to the ground and rolled, kicking out at her legs as he did so. The Dark woman tripped over Remy’s legs, but turned it into a roll of her own. They both sprung to their feet simultaneously a few metres away from each other before leaping back together with a powerful clash.

Remy pushed back, using his height and weight to his advantage against his smaller opponent, driving her back with a series of furious swipes until she was backed up against a crumbling duracrete wall. He held the tip of his lightsaber against her neck.

“You shall never have me, Jedi.” She spat out. “You may be rid of me, but the Darkness will rise and there is nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” She grinned at him, a terrifying and slightly maniacal grin, and bit down on something within her mouth. She continued grinning madly at him as she choked, red foam spilling out of her mouth, before collapsing to the ground.

Remy thumbed the activation switch on his lightsaber, retracting the blade before reattaching it to his belt. He knelt down next to the Dark woman, feeling for a pulse, although the pang of death in the Force had already told him that there would be none. He retrieved the Dark woman’s lightsaber and attached it to his belt next to his own. It would not do for that to be left out on the street for anyone to find. He also removed a small dagger with an intricately carved handle from a holster attached to her thigh and tucked it into his belt as well.

“Remy!” Laini shouted urgently as she rounded a corner, carrying a small child in her arms. The child had gripped onto her tightly with both his legs and arms and did not look like he would be letting go anytime soon.

“How is he?” Remy asked.

“Karking scared and he has a bit cut across one of his hands. He also has a few cuts from where he was banging on the walls, but I think he’s otherwise physically ok. He won’t say what happened though.”

Remy nodded. “Let’s get him back to where I’m staying. There’s someone who can help with this.”

They quickly made their way back to Werran’s house, Laini carrying Obi-Wan the whole way, stubbornly refusing Remy’s offers to help. Although by the way the young boy was clinging to her, he doubted that she would be able to hand him over at that point anyway. Exhausted, and still under the effects of the drug he had been given, Obi-Wan had eventually fallen asleep not long before they entered the humble, but well maintained dwelling. Yoda and Werran were seated at the table sipping from steaming cups of tea but immediately rose to assist.

Laini startled when she saw Yoda - there were not many species on Stewjon who were not human, or at least humanoid in appearance - but nevertheless, she followed his directions to lay Obi-Wan down on the couch. The young boy was not quite awake, but he was writhing and letting out the occasional moan. She kneeled next to the couch and stroked his hair, whispering soothing words softly to him.

Yoda carefully approached the young boy and gently placed his clawed hands on his chest, sending a pulse of soothing energy through the Force. Obi-Wan immediately calmed, but did not awaken. Yoda looked up at Remy, a questioning look in his heavy-lidded eyes.

Remy quickly explained everything that had happened. “The woman was definitely a Dark sider. I’ve never felt such Darkness before.”

“Hmm.” Yoda said, scanning the boy with the Force. “Dathomiri magick, I sense. A Nightsister, I suspect this woman was.” He lifted Obi-Wan’s hand to show a deep wound across his palm. “Blood magick, this is.”

Remy’s eyes widened momentarily but was well trained enough to not let his surprise show further than that. “I thought the Nightsisters were a myth.”

“Based in reality, legends often are, young Remy.” Yoda replied. He moved his hands to cover Obi-Wan’s hands, using the Force to heal the number of small cuts and bruises that covered them, including the long slice across his palm. Yoda turned to Laini and spoke gently to the teenager. “Sleep, you need. Difficult day, you have had. Take care of Obi-Wan, I will.”

Laini opened her mouth to protest, but she did suddenly feel very tired. She nodded reluctantly.

Remy rose and guided the teenager to the sleeping quarters, where a mattress that had been placed on the floor for his use. He doubted that he was going to get any sleep that night, but figured that someone may as well get some use out of it. Laini dropped off to sleep soon after her head touched the pillow and Remy returned to the common room. Werran had also retired for the night, leaving the two Jedi to their business.

Remy kneeled down next to Yoda, noting a concerned look on his face, an emotion rarely associated with the ancient Master.

“Touched by Darkness, the child has been.” Yoda said in a quiet voice.

“What are we going to do?”

“Patient, we will be.” Yoda replied. “Speak to the boy, we must. Strong in the Force, he is. But unclear, his future is.” He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. “See past the Dathomiri Magick, I cannot.”


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks if you have stuck with me, I know this isn’t necessarily a popular era to read about, but it does set up some important things for future stories in this series. If you haven’t read it yet, The Path Back Home is the next story in the series, and I’m well on the way with writing the third story, which will be based on Melida/Daan. Would love some feedback if you have any!

_ He stood at the bottom of a long set of stairs, staring up at a building towering dizzily above him, extending so high that it looked like it was reaching up to touch the sky. _

_ As he looked to the tallest spire, he noticed that the blue sky began growing darker. He looked around, but there were no clouds and the sun was still shining high in the sky. _

_ Suddenly he became aware of millions of tiny dark tendrils racing across the sky from all around the horizon towards the apex right above him, weaving themselves into an intricate pattern reminiscent of Sestrian’s finest, sheerest textiles, until the whole sky was covered by the translucent darkness. _

_ He shivered, a chill running up his spine as dread settled into the pit of his stomach, and a heavy oppressive weight laid upon his shoulders. _

_ He heard whispering voices. He looked around to see who was talking, but he was completely alone. He couldn’t hear what they were saying at first, but the voices gradually became clearer, repeating the phrases over and over again. _

_ Pursued by Darkness. _

_ Surrounded by Darkness. _

_ Pain. _

_ Death. _

_ Destiny. _

_ The voices began overlapping, words merging together, getting louder and louder before suddenly stopping. _

_ He looked back up at the sky. The dark shroud shimmered for a moment before blinking away, the blue sky shining through like nothing had ever happened. But the dread in his stomach and the heavy weight on his shoulders remained. _

_ Pursued by Darkness, the voice whispered, before fading away completely. _

Obi-Wan woke up suddenly to darkened surroundings he did not recognise. Fear came over him and he quickly pushed himself into a sitting position, breathing heavily.

“Easy.” A deep voice murmured to him and he felt a warm hand touch his arm. He turned and saw a dark-haired man kneeling next to him.

“Where am I?” Obi-Wan asked, trying to keep his voice strong.

“You are safe. My name is Remy. Your friend Laini is sleeping in the next room. This is Master Yoda.” Remy said, indicating to a small green being behind him that Obi-Wan hadn’t yet noticed. “We are Jedi.”

Obi-Wan nodded mutely, not quite understanding the implication. He had heard of the Jedi, but didn’t really know much about them. He hadn’t exactly had a typical upbringing so far and lacked an understanding of general childhood stories.

“Can you tell us what happened to you?” Remy asked in a gentle voice.

Obi-Wan shivered unintentionally as he thought back over the events of the day. The four-year-old didn’t quite know how to explain everything that had happened to him.

“The Dark woman took me but I really didn’t want to go with her. She put something yuck in my mouth and cut my hand. Then I went to sleep and I dreamed of so many bad things.  _ Scary _ things.”

“Difficult experience for a youngling, that is. Afraid, you must have been.” Yoda commented in a soothing voice.

Obi-Wan nodded, drawing his knees into his chest and hugging them tightly.

“Your dreams, what were they of?”

Obi-Wan dutifully described his dreams in the best way a four year old boy could. He did not understand the depth of meaning behind his words or what he had seen, but he saw Yoda and Remy shared a knowing glance.

“Dark dreams, you have had. Dream of happy things, young boys should.” Yoda commented. “Make you forget these dreams, I can. Agree with this, do you, hmm?”

Obi-Wan nodded emphatically. He did not like those dreams one bit and would be very happy to forget all about them. And he didn’t know why, but he fully trusted the funny-looking green creature even though he didn’t even know him at all.

“Relax, you should. Hurt, this will not.” Yoda said calmly as he placed his hands on Obi-Wan’s temples. His eyes closed and his ears twitched as he concentrated.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and felt a gentle warmth spread from Yoda’s hands through his head, making him feel calm and relaxed as the Darkness that had been plaguing him was chased away by pure Light. He breathed out a contented sigh and quickly fell into a deep sleep - this time to be a restorative one.

Yoda guided Obi-Wan’s small body back down to the couch and sat back, tapping one clawed finger on his chin, a thoughtful look on his face.

“What is it, Master Yoda.” Remy asked a few long seconds later. “Were you able to help with the dreams?”

“Dreams, they were not.” Yoda said, his heavy lidded eyes lowering as he wearily contemplated what he saw. “Visions of the future, they were. Saw them all, I did. Much darkness, he has seen. Too much for one so young. Blocked the memories temporarily, I have. For ten years, he will not remember. Too much Darkness, this boy has seen. Marked by the Darkness, he has been, pursued by Darkness, he now is. Trained in the Light, he must be, otherwise take him, the Darkness will.”

Remy breathed out a long, slow breath. He looked at the sleeping form of the child on the couch in front of him, somberly thinking about the large burden that had been placed upon the young boy.

“So we will take him back to the Temple for training?” Remy asked.

“Yes.” Yoda said. “But know of this, no one else must. Secret, this must be, as misunderstand, many Jedi may. A large burden, this boy must bear, many trials he will face. Difficult, his life will be. Judgment, he does not need.”

———

Obi-Wan gradually awoke in the morning and sat up on the couch, rubbing his eyes with his fists and yawning in childlike innocence. It was the best sleep he ever remembered having.

“How feel you, hmm?”

Obi-Wan looked over to where the rough voice came from, memories rushing back from the encounter with the odd looking creature - Master Yoda, if he remembered correctly - in the middle of night.

“I had a good sleep.” Obi-Wan replied.

Yoda nodded and blinked slowly. “Dream, did you?”

Obi-Wan frowned as he thought about it then shook his head in the negative. It felt like an odd thing. He knew he usually had dreams, but he couldn’t now remember what they were about. But he brushed the thought away. If he couldn’t remember, surely they weren’t that important after all.

The sound of soft, quick footsteps cut off any further conversation as Obi-Wan was suddenly swept up into a tight hug by his purple-haired friend.

“I was so worried about you!” Laini exclaimed.

Obi-Wan squeezed back as tightly as he could. “I’m ok now.” He said, words muffled into Laini’s shoulder.

They released each other after a long moment and Laini looked over at the two Jedi.

“What will happen to him?” Laini asked, keeping a protective arm wrapped around Obi-Wan. “I know he is special, that he can do kriffing crazy things that aren’t normal. Will you take him with you?”

“Jedi training, he should receive, however, parental permission, we do not yet have.” Yoda replied.

“Well considering that his father  sold him yesterday to that karking woman, I should assume they really don’t care.” Laini spat out.

“Legal custody, we must attain.” Yoda explained. “Otherwise claim Obi-Wan back from us, his parents may.”

“His father is a horrible man. He may refuse just to kark up Obi’s life.”

“Diplomats, we are. Very persuasive, we can be.” Yoda replied with a knowing smile.

———

Remy stood at the front door of the house that Obi-Wan had indicated was where his family lived. Obi-Wan stood slightly behind him and Laini stood beside Obi-Wan, gripping the young boy’s hand tightly. Remy prepared by drawing on the Force to give him the right words to say. He got the feeling this wouldn’t be easy, but Yoda had entrusted him with this task so he let out a slow deep breath, released the tension in his shoulders, and knocked on the door of his house.

The door was opened by Owen, who frowned when he saw Obi-Wan peeking out from behind Remy.

“He’s come back!” Owen turned and shouted to someone within the house.

Remy heard the scraping of a chair against the floor and a male’s voice coming closer. “Kark! I told that kriffing woman he wasn’t to come back —“ he cut off abruptly as he pulled the door open fully to see who was standing there. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Remy, pulling himself up to his full height, which was still a good ten centimetres shorter than the tall Jedi Knight. “What do you want?” He demanded.

“My name is Remy Turro, I am a Jedi Knight. Last night, we rescued your son from a woman who was mistreating him.” Remy explained, then paused to see Kovin’s reaction.

The man’s eyes remained narrowed and he paused for a moment before replying. “Thank you for bringing him back to us.” He said carefully. He reached out towards Obi-Wan’s shoulder, intending to pull him into the house.

Before Kovin’s hand could reach its intended target, Remy’s hand shot out, providing a barrier between Kovin and Obi-Wan.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kovin spat angrily. “He belongs to me!”

Remy’s eyebrows lifted, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “It is my understanding that you sold him just yesterday.”

Kovin spluttered for a second, anger momentarily getting the best of him. “What do you want with him anyway?”

“May we come in?” Remy asked politely. He always preferred to have these conversations sitting down. It generally put people more at ease.

Kovin glared but did not answer.

Remy sighed internally, he did not get a good feeling from this place and he felt the Force practically shouting at him to get Obi-Wan away from here. “You may already be aware that Obi-Wan has some natural abilities which differ from other children. He has the ability to use the Force, which gives him the means do many extraordinary things such as to manipulate objects without touching them, to see things before they happen or to have extremely quick reflexes.”

“So you’re saying that he’s better than us?” Kovin challenged.

“No, I’m not saying that at all.” Remy replied, trying to meet Kovin’s anger with calm words. “He is not better than anyone, but being able to use the Force does make him different. It is strongly advised that children who are Force-sensitive receive training otherwise it can be a frightening experience for them and their families as they unintentionally access the Force, which can in some cases cause injury or damage.”

“So you want to train him to swan in and out of planets across the galaxy, meddling in their affairs and forcing people to do things they don’t want to by manipulating their minds with your Force power just because you think you know what’s best for everyone. I see the stories in the media, I’m not stupid.” Kovin spat out.

“I can’t speak for the stories you have read.” Remy replied, silently cursing the media. This was not the first time he’d had this line thrown at him. But he had extensive diplomatic training. He had worked with more stubborn people than this man. He just had to find the key negotiation point. “But one of the key Jedi philosophies is to always work towards the greater good. We are not perfect, and we do make mistakes. But we always try to come to a solution that will benefit everyone involved. Which is what I would like to do now. Obi-Wan will be welcome at the Jedi Temple for training. We will train him, feed him, clothe him and provide for his every need. There will be no cost to you, nor will there be any ongoing expectations to care for him or to have contact with him.”

Kovin narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “He works for me. I will be losing a lot of money if he leaves. How are you going to compensate for that?”

Remy lifted an eyebrow. “Considering that you have already received a substantial payment for him yesterday, I presume that would not be an issue.”

Kovin glared but could not find words to say.

“All I need is for you to sign over legal custody to the Jedi Order.” Remy said, producing a small datapad from an internal pocket in his cloak with the necessary contract already prepared.

“I’ll sign.” A female voice said as Carohi appeared behind Kovin.

Kovin looked at his wife with surprise. “But we hate the Jedi!” He spat.

“No, Kovin -  _ you _ hate the Jedi.” Carohi said. “If this is what is best for Obi-Wan, then we must sign the contract. You always complain about too many mouths to feed anyway.” Carohi turned to Remy and held out her hand. “Let me sign.”

Remy handed over the datapad and Carohi signed with the stylus before shoving both items into Kovin’s hands with a stern look. Kovin hesitated a moment before adding his own signature and thrusted the datapad back towards Remy.

“So be it. Take him away. Better you have him than us.” Kovin said in a low voice. “Just don’t come after us for any money because there won’t be any.”

Remy tucked the datapad back into his cloak’s internal pocket and inclined his head into a barely respectful semblance of a bow. “Thank you. Obi-Wan will be well looked after, you will not need to consider his needs at all from now on.” His words were polite, but the meaning behind them was clear.

Remy placed his hand behind Obi-Wan’s back and gently guided Obi-Wan and Laini down the street away from the house. He felt Obi-Wan turn slightly to look over his shoulder for a moment, but then turned back quickly, looking forward again.

“This feels right.” Obi-Wan commented.

“Yes, it does.” Remy replied.

———

Remy and Yoda waited at the top of the ramp of their space transport while Obi-Wan said his goodbyes to Laini. He hadn’t batted an eyelid walking away from his family without saying goodbye, but Laini was the only person he had ever been close to, the one who had looked out for him for as long as he could remember.

“I’m really going to miss you.” Obi-Wan said, sniffling as he rubbed a couple of tears away from his eyes.

“I’m going to miss you too, my Bi-Bi.” Laini replied. “Don’t cry, you’re going to make me cry too!” She reached out and wiped away a stray tear from Obi-Wan’s cheek with her thumb then pulled the four-year-old into a tight embrace, wiping away a couple of tears from her own eyes as she squeezed tightly.

“I will never forget you.” Obi-Wan said emphatically.

“You better not.” Laini joked, letting out a short noise which was halfway between a sob and a laugh. “Now you’d better go. I know you will become a great Jedi. Never forget that I will always love you, little brother.”

Tears now ran unchecked down Obi-Wan’s cheek as he nodded. “I love you too, big sister.”

“I have something for you.” Laini said, tucking a small wrapped object into Obi-Wan’s hand.

Obi-Wan unwrapped it to reveal a small holocube with a picture of him and Laini. He wiped away the tears that were gathering again in his eyes as he carefully tucked the cube into a pocket in his tunic. “Thank you.” He said as he threw his arms around Laini for a second hug.

“Off you go now.” Laini said, then gently turned Obi-Wan around, towards his future. She watched as he walked up the ramp towards the two Jedi. He turned at the top and they waved at each other until the ramp closed.

Remy showed Obi-Wan to his seat and helped him to strap himself in. Obi-Wan could see Laini from a nearby window and continued to wave at her until she became too small to see. He placed his hand against the cold transparisteel and watched as everything he had ever known grew smaller and smaller as the spaceship flew higher and higher into the atmosphere.

Eventually, Stewjon became a small marble of green and blue surrounded by the pitch black of space, then disappeared completely in a whirl of stars as they entered hyperspace and sped towards Coruscant and Obi-Wan’s future.


End file.
